


Smoothing Skirts

by Estirose



Category: Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: Gen, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-09 17:32:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 9,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1991643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michi does her best to balance out her worlds as a corporate heir and a dancer with Team Gaim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started wondering what Mitsuzane would be like if he was a girl. The answer was, oddly enough, "the more things change, the more things stay the same."
> 
> Mitsuzane seems to be a male name, from what I can tell, so I went with the more gender-neutral "Michi".

Before she left the restroom, she smoothed her skirt. It'd been pounded into her head since she was very little that Kureshimas were refined and elegant, especially Kureshima girls, and the fact that she's intelligent enough to be on top of her year made it even more important that she tended to her looks as well as her grades.

She might have been the spare heir of a large corporation, but it was important to keep up the impression that Kureshima Michi was competent and professional like her brother. Even if her parents decided to marry her off, she'd still be part of the company; they saw no point in letting that intelligence of hers go to waste. She'd be expected to be more than a housewife or a decoration. She knew that as soon as she finished her studies, she'd be joining her brother in working for Yggdrasill. It was just one more reminder that her life had been planned out for her ever since she was born. Corporate heirs didn't get a lot of choice about how to live their lives. They were just high-end cogs in a company's machinery.

Which is why her brother didn't know about what she did after school. She kept up the lie that she's studying, going to cram school, just to keep him happy. But her own happiness was tied up in Team Gaim, where she wasn't stuck being the spare Kureshima heir. Instead, she helped design dance routines and hung out with her teammates, feeling buoyed by the smiles on their faces. She'd have done anything to keep those smiles going, because they were what mattered to her. Never mind the fake world she was forced to be a part of as a Kureshima, this was the place where she'd rather be.

She looked over at Kouta with some concern. She loved him for his innocence and his bright-eyed look, but as of late he'd been making noises about quitting Team Gaim in order to help provide for his household. It's not something that made him happy, and she was still trying to find a way to stop him. She'd thought about asking him to marry her, but she knew it wouldn't work. Her parents would be opposed, as would her brother, and the stricter scrutiny would bring an end to her time with Team Gaim. And even if they did somehow approve of him, he would be forced into what she hated anyway, the role of a heir to a company. It would crush his spirit surely as it was crushing her own.

No, she wouldn't do anything to make him unhappy, and all she could do was make him see that he would be unhappy if he left the Team to get a job. If he had to get a job, it couldn't interfere with his time with the Team. She'd searched for jobs for him, though he didn't know it yet. She'd do the same for any of the others. They had given her a life outside Yggdrasill; she'd give them the lives that she wanted them to have, so that the joy never left their faces.

"Michi, come dance with us!" Mai exclaimed, and she stood up, laying aside her tablet and returning her teammates' smiles. Smoothing out her shorts, she stepped into formation with the others. 

And in a moment, the dance, the joy, swept her away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While the first part was pre-series, this happens around 4-5.

Michi had to keep checking to make sure the Sengoku Driver she had on her nightstand was real, and not a dream. It seemed so unreal, how she'd transformed, how she'd been able to defend Team Gaim with Kouta out of the action, and it had felt so good.

Sure, she'd had to strongarm the dealer Sid into giving her the driver, but she was prepared, as she'd told the girl in her dream, to do whatever she had to to keep Kouta and Mai and the others safe. But it was more than that. It was a chance to do something for herself for once, not because she was a Kureshima, but because she was Team Gaim's Michi. She could defend her team when Kouta couldn't, and when Kouta recovered from whatever had scared him to death, she would work with him.

She knew she'd face a lot of challenges as the only female Armored Rider - she couldn't see any of the other girls from any other group convincing Sid to give them a driver. She'd seen the look on Jonouchi Hideyasu's face when he saw that a girl was stepping forward to challenge him, only to have it turn to a satisfying despair when she pulled the belt and lockseed out from where they were hidden under her hoodie. It felt good, because he'd greatly underestimated her just because she was a girl.

She suspected there would be some taunts in the future because of her gender, but she wasn't going to let them stop her. After all, she had a future in Yggdrasill coming because of her blood and her genius; her gender didn't matter there, and it wouldn't on the stage.

There would be sacrifice, she knew it. She'd have to work hard to keep her brother from suspecting that she was putting herself into danger with these battles. But here, she was Team Gaim's Armored Rider Ryugen, not Kureshima Michi, and she would pay her team back for everything they'd ever done for her, even if the didn't realize how much that was.


	3. Chapter 3

"Kouta, come at me." Michi spoke softly, but she stood ready as she prepared for Kouta to do just that. While she didn't like skipping dance practice - it was what brought her joy, after all - she knew that she needed to practice fighting as well. She'd had to learn to use her gun fast the first time, and while she'd done all right, she wasn't going to remain inexperienced as she was. 

Kouta nodded once, rushing forward with sword in hand. They both knew they needed the practice, with five other Armored Riders out there, with Bravo and the mysterious White Rider being experienced fighters. Most of them had melee weapons, too, unlike her. 

She wished that she could ask her brother for fighting lessons, given that she knew that he knew how to fight. But she didn't know how he would react. She also didn't want to have him catch a broadcast and have him recognize his own fighting style.

Kouta was still traumatized from that whole experience with the White Armored Rider, but he was still bouncing back. He had realized that some things required sacrifice, and protecting the Team was one of them. Even if it cut into dancing, she knew that doing this could only help against the threats the team now faced.

She ducked Kouta's sword swing, spinning around to block a second with her gun. She knew that wouldn't always work - Bravo's swing was too forceful to block the way she was doing it, but she knew better than to let him get close anyway. Lances and sticks were more worrysome. Gridon could barely hit the side of a barn, so she wasn't too worried about him for all his talk about tactics.

Rolling backwards, she aimed a few shots at Kouta's feet. She wanted to see if it was a good way to keep an opponent off balance, and at least it caused him to stumble. Maybe not the more experienced ones, but it might make a good desperation tactic while she was getting herself to a better position.

Kouta closed in again, and she was forced to block, roll, and repeat with a shot closer to his chest. She would need to work more on her accuracy and her strength, though at least she had a little bit of an advantage with a gun; she didn't have the upper body strength that most of the guys had and that their weapons required. 

He charged forward, and she was forced to contend with repeated swipes from his sword. Eventually, she was forced to stumble back, losing her Armor as she did so.

She swore quietly as Kouta took off his own. "Kouta, just because I'm unarmed...." Seriously, he couldn't let his guard down just because she was friendly. 

"It's a sparring match." He reached out his hand, which she took. "You're doing good."

"I could do better." She was used to doing better than this. She would have to work more at it, she knew, even if her grades suffered. Some things were more important than being the top of her year.

"Michi..." He gave her a puppy dog look, which made her sigh. She really did love him for his innocent earnestness. "Let's head back."

"Okay." She fell beside him. She looked up at him; he seemed ready to say something, opening his mouth several times, but gave up after a few minutes. "We need to get some dance practice in." He was part of the team. Eventually, he'd dance again.

She didn't mind being an Armored Rider, but she wasn't quite relishing the attention that being Ryugen brought. While she knew that they were getting a large female audience due to her being the only female Armored Rider, she wanted to dance, not to fight. She didn't want to be the role model for anyone outside her team.

Besides, the more popular she got, the greater the possibility that someone might notice that Kureshima Michi was a Beat Rider and an Armored Rider, and tell her brother, who would make her quit the team.

"I know," he said, interrupting her thoughts. He seemed a bit melancholy about the matter. Whatever had happened to him had killed his joy in the dance as well as nearly killing his spirit, and she hadn't figured out how to get his smile back. Well, sure, he still smiled when he saw the team dance, but she wanted him to feel like he was more than the protector. She wanted him to feel like he was one of them again.

Maybe it would just take time. He'd bounce back, eventually, she kept telling herself, even if some part of her said that he never would. But that was needless, doubting worry, she told herself, because Kouta was part of the team and Kouta in his heart knew that too.


	4. Chapter 4

Michi carefully put her bag down. One of the advantages of being a girl was that her brother never seemed to want to come in to her room - he trusted her to not be doing anything nasty and left it at that. In return, she tried to keep him from getting to the point where he did have to poke. Her brother didn't care about her, which stung, but on the other hand he didn't look too closely into what she was into.

She was pleased to note that either Sid had kept his mouth shut, or her brother hadn't believed him. Her brother hadn't asked if she had done anything with the Lock Seed, just blamed it on a Beat Rider thief, which meant that he hadn't suspected her at all. Of course, she'd tested it by mentioning that there were only male Armored Riders, which he hadn't corrected. He still didn't know that Ryugen was a girl, or if he did, he was covering it up magnificently. Which was not how her brother worked, so she assumed he didn't know.

Eyeing her bag, she thought about studying. She had to do something to keep her grades up, after all, before her brother started wondering what was going on with her. But her mind wanted to work out plans to capture the loose Inves. She was smart, but smart only got her so much. She still had to know what she was studying before she could ace it.

She wished she could disappear forever, just move out and live on her own. But as her brother reminded her, she was a Kureshima, and she doubted her disappearance would go over well. Besides, her family ran a tech company; how hard would it be for somebody to track down her iPad's signal? And she refused to be without it.

Plus, the more she stayed, the more she might find out about why her brother had a Sengoku driver and Lock Seeds in his briefcase. They still hadn't talked about school or college, much to her relief. There were far more important things to her right now.

Still, she should study, even if she didn't want to. She had to keep the others safe, and if she had to study, so be it. Listlessly, she opened a book and started reading it, forcing all thoughts of loose Inves out of her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Michi was getting too used to keeping secrets, but she needed to for the sake of the team. This time, it was that her own brother was the White Armored Rider that had terrified Kouta. She was going to have to protect her teammate from her brother without Kouta understanding why, because she didn't want him to get hurt.

She herself was still recovering from that whole thing. Kouta had come up with a bunch of concrete details that she could use, and she could see the relief in his eyes that they knew something, no matter how grim the details were. Now all she had to do was convince him to let go of his Driver; she was going to stop being Ryugen, and he was going to have to stop being Gaim. Not only did she hate the idea of being a guinea pig as much as he did, but it would keep him safe from his own tendency to put himself in the way of danger. They'd done what they needed to do, but she refused to let his hero tendencies put him at risk, and she didn't want her brother to connect her to Team Gaim.

And now there was something else. She'd overheard Rica mention to Chucky that Rica thought that Kouta had a crush on her. If it was true, then she had to protect Kouta even more. While any relationship would never go anywhere, it touched her. It meant that just as she'd looked up to Kouta and Mai, she had meant something to Kouta as well. He definitely approved of her in ways she hadn't realized. Unfortunately for him, she realized that he and Mai needed to be together; she'd have to do something about that.

That was, if her mind would stop replaying her fight with her brother. While she'd tried her best to fight against him and even get away before he knocked her out, she'd made too many mistakes. Sure, not as many as she could have - he'd complimented her on how wisely she'd fought - but she hadn't come out well at all. She winced as she thought of the bruise she had on her back from where he'd hit her, presumably with his shield - it was pretty large, she'd seen it.

At least she had become an expert at covering up her bruises, or at least explaining them away. And he'd accepted her explanations at face value where he shouldn't. But she was going to have nightmares about how close he came to finding out that she was part of Team Gaim had he not been called away. She could pass as a feminine-looking boy if she was careful, but she doubted that she could do it with her brother. On the other hand, he was fairly oblivious to things.

Still, better not to risk it. Best to be conservative and keep them all safe. It was for their own good.


	6. Chapter 6

Michi didn't know if she wanted to go home again. Sure, home was where she'd get fed and such, but could she really live in that world? Not from what she'd seen just by sneaking into Yggdrasill. She'd known that she and the others were test subjects, but her rummage through the files had driven home how much the people at Yggdrasill didn't care, including her brother. He'd been well-aware that Yuya had died, a fact that she now had to hide from the others for their sake. Especially Kouta's. Kouta could never be allowed to know that he killed Yuya. He'd had a bad reaction the first time, when he'd nearly gotten killed, and she couldn't put him in that pain again. She needed him to be part of Team Gaim.

No, Kureshima Michi would have to disappear so that Michi could live in peace. She wondered if Kouta's or Mai's families would take her in. She'd already turned her phone and iPad to airplane mode; she didn't dare lead her brother to the Garage when he noticed that she hadn't returned home. She was sure there would be some panic, because Kureshimas didn't exactly disappear, but she wasn't sure she could be a part of the family. Not the family that had caused her friends to be treated like villains just because the Beat Riders were convenient scapegoats for the Inves Plague.

She decided her best course of action was to crash at the Garage. She could start looking for a place to live tomorrow, spending some of that night figuring out how to explain things to the others. It was another thing her teammates could never know, for their sakes, that she was part of the family that ran the city. She never wanted to be considered different.

No matter how she hated it, she'd have to keep on using Ryugen to keep the others safe. She had to keep them going. Eventually, she'd convince Kouta to let her have his belt, and then she'd throw it away so that he could be happy even though he didn't realize it would make things much better for him. She would have preferred that his belt stay at Yggdrasill's labs, but she hadn't had time to argue with him or Kumon Kaito. No, she would have to put up with Kouta's stupid heroics later.

Thankfully, there were places to crash in the Garage. She'd made sure of it long ago, just in case anybody ever had reason to. She'd just have to get the bedding out of hiding and dust it off, and then she'd wake up before anybody else showed up. By then, she would have figured out how to get someone's family to adopt her.

She'd just set up the emergency futon in their tiny, almost-unused back room when she heard the door open and close. "Michi?" Kouta called.

She thought about not responding, but he sounded worried. Kouta was reasonably intelligent, but not as bright as she. "I'm here."

There was a rattle of feet down steps, and soon Kouta was rushing towards her. "Are you okay? You weren't answering your phone."

Michi gave him a pleasant smile she didn't feel. "I didn't want them to track me. I'm sorry, I forgot to put it back on." That would work as an excuse for the moment. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

He looked past her to where she'd just laid down the futon. "Are you sure you're all right? I mean, if you're sleeping here tonight...."

"I'm all right. It's just that my family is very strict, and I don't think I could explain why I'm getting home so late." Well, her brother would probably accept things, because he was so oblivious, but she wasn't going back there if she could help it.

Kouta reacted with a sympathetic look. "I know, but they probably worry about you."

"Not me. Maybe the person I represent to them." Sometimes one had to hide a lie with the truth. It was exactly what she was doing. "It's okay, Kouta. I'll talk to them in the morning." After which, she could lie about being kicked out. Someone had a spare room, surely. She could go full-time to being Team Gaim instead of living with the prospect of working for Yggdrasil.

"Do you want me to talk to them for you?" Kouta asked. There was that same gentleness and naitivety that she loved so much about him. "I could pretend you were out on a date."

"No." She wanted to scream, but she kept forcing her smile. "I think that would make it worse." She wondered if he was foolish enough to want to protect her when she didn't need it. Besides, her brother would want to meet Kouta just so that he could give him a death glare and try to run him out of town.

"I'll stay with you if you want. Or maybe I could call Mai?" He was almost chewing on his lip in worry. He did want to protect her, when she needed to do the protecting now.

She wondered how many times she had to say no before he would go away. "If you stayed with me and my older brother found out, he'd kill you." And given that he'd almost killed Kouta once, she didn't want to put her teammate in harm's way. That was not her intent, at all. Kouta sometimes needed a good scare, yes, but she didn't want Takatora making an absolutely wrong assumption.

"Oh." He tried to give her a dazzling smile. "But don't feel like you have to do this alone, Michi. We're all here for you."

It would be too easy to collapse in his arms, and too unbecoming for a Kureshima. She could almost listen to her brother lecturing her about it in her mind.

It might be that she had to go back, just to allay Kouta's suspicions. Not that Kouta was very much that way; he was a warmer, more loving Takatora sometimes. "If I go home, will you promise you won't worry about me, ever?" She asked. "I've got Ryugen if I run into trouble."

"I can't promise that. But I can promise it for one night, if you go." He put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll feel better, and so will the rest of the team, knowing you're all right."

He wouldn't let things be. She mentally gritted her teeth, knowing that he'd never let her crash there, no matter what was going on in her life. Sometimes, his tendency to foil her plans was really frustrating. "Okay."

"Do you want me to escort you home?" Kouta asked.

"No, I'll be fine." She almost goofed up and called him "older brother", since he deserved that title far more than her real one.

But she let him escort her out of the Garage, at least, and true to her word, went home.


	7. Chapter 7

She hadn't felt this good in weeks, not since she'd had to join Yggdrasill in order to protect her team. The whole all-team dance had lifted her spirits, and it had reminded her of how much it meant for everybody on Team Gaim to be together.

It reminded her of how much she had to do to make sure they survived the end of the world. Nobody on the team would be culled; they would be among the one million survivors. She would do anything she could to make sure that happened.

Michi knew that the alliances she was forming with Professor Ryouma and the others would help her keep the team safe. She also knew the alliances were only temporary. She doubted the Professor would keep his word if she stopped being useful, and the others in his alliance would go with him.

The fact that her overbearing big brother had no clue about the alliances cheered her greatly. She had impressed the Professor by thinking on her feet and accepting the realities that her brother would not; she would happily go behind her brother's back as long as her alliance kept Team Gaim safe.

And if Professor Ryouma wanted to keep gathering data on Kouta, then she'd make damn sure that Kouta kept his belt, no matter how much she disliked his tendency to rescue everybody in sight. She'd wanted to take it away and store it until he needed it when Helheim invaded, but it was a necessary evil to keep him safe. She'd have to go back to training with him just to keep him ready to fight and maybe get him to display those forms that kept Professor Ryouma so interested.

Kouta didn't really need to know the truth about the Forest. She'd have to make sure he never knew, that he just kept rescuing people and didn't ask too many questions. He wasn't stupid most of the time, though she swore that the belt was making him dumber and dumber. It seemed to make him happy, at least.

There was a knock on her door. "Michi, are you in there?" her brother asked. One of the downsides of now working for Yggdrasill was that her brother took more of an interest in her than she really found that she wanted.

"Yeah." She got up from where she'd been resting and opened the door. "Did you want to see me, big brother?"

"Yes. Let's go to the parlor."

Ah, yes, it was interrogation time. She followed him silently.

"So, I saw you were at the dance event," he said after they both settled down in chairs.

"Yes, big brother. Professor Ryouma said that I should spend some time watching over the various Beat Rider teams, since I had been part of one. And maybe I could snare Kouta's belt while I'm at it." 

"I don't like you being there, but...." He sighed and looked over at the wall. "I trust Ryouma's judgment."

She kept her face from reflecting her bitter smile. "The rest of the time, I've been looking at new components for the drivers we'll be using for Project Ark." That's what he wanted to hear, after all. "I know what my duty is as a Kureshima."

He returned to looking at her, a smile gracing his face. "I'm glad you're working on that."

"I'm glad that I'd had the opportunity to use the Driver. And I can talk to Kouta - he's smart, but pretty clueless. Kumon Kaito is too smart for me to get away with such questions. Gridon and Baron I don't get along with."

He nodded at that. "I'm glad you came in." He took a deep breath. "How are you feeling? The cook said you didn't have dinner."

"I wasn't hungry." She knew it was a side-effect of the Driver, this not-eating thing, but she found that she rather liked living on Lock Seeds. If she felt like snacking, she could do so at Gaim, where it was more likely to raise suspicion if she didn't. "And I feel fine, except for some cramps."

"I thought the medication you're taking fixed that." He raised an eyebrow, and she wondered if he was going to suddenly be suspicious and start wondering about that part of her life. She didn't really mind, since that would divert his attention elsewhere.

"The cramps are much better than they were, but they still happen. I asked the doctor if there was anything that could be done, but I'm taking the biggest dose that I can for it."

There was an almost-sigh. "If that's all they can do... I guess I can't ask for more. But you have to eat, Michi. Just because you can survive on Lock Seeds doesn't mean you should." He stared at the wall. "You're probably picking up bad habits from Ryouma."

"He is fairly absent-minded." Michi answered. "I'll remind him that he has to eat, too." He'd be amused, at least. 

"Thank you," her brother said, and she nodded, getting up.

"I have to get to bed soon," she said. "There's some things I want to work on tomorrow." Things that she could never talk about, not to anybody.

And least of all, not to her older brother.


	8. Chapter 8

It always felt good to dance, Michi decided, letting the skirt of her costume flare as she moved. She loved falling into the pattern, in sync with everyone around her, being part of a whole that accepted her for what she was.

This was what she'd felt before the Inves Game had started, and she was glad to feel it once more.

There weren't that many teams left, not that it mattered. Those who loved the dance were still dancing, and she couldn't help but feel some kinship with Gaim's new teammates. Not as much as her own team, of course, but people who understood the dance just as she and Mai did.

It was odd to feel so at home with people from Team Invitto and Team Baron, among others, but she wasn't going to argue. Having those people there made Mai happy, and Michi would do whatever she needed to do to keep Mai that way. She'd do the same for Chucky and Rica and Rat.

A few moments ago, she'd been bone tired. Not completely from what she'd been doing a little while before - helping seal the Crack in her brother's absence - but because of the burden it meant to her. She'd felt odd fighting Inves for Yggdrasill and commanding people far older than her sixteen year old self with the respect due her as a Kureshima. It had been oddly satisfying as well, as it was she who had made the city a little safer for the moment.

Not that she really cared about anybody outside the consolidated team. Oh, sure, there was their audience, but she didn't feel as attached as she did to the people in the room. It made her feel good that she'd done what she could for them, keeping them out of the loop and protecting them.

She wanted to keep protecting them forever, because she was the only one who could. Eventually, Kouta would get the rhythm of the dance back in his head, the rhythm that he'd lost so long ago when her brother had attacked him in Helheim. It thrilled her that she could be there for him until he could truly be part of Gaim once more, instead of drifting away.

Michi didn't want him to drift away into mindless heroism. Sure, it made Professor Ryouma happy about what data he was getting, but Michi could see the effects the belt was having on Kouta. He was starting to care less for Gaim when he should be caring more. And he was listening to her less and less.

It was why she'd told her brother about the pending invasion. Kouta needed the sense knocked into him, and if he wasn't going to listen to her, he might listen to her brother's bow. He didn't need to know what happened to Yuuya, he needed a concussion so that he'd lie down and rest and not put on the damn Driver for a while.

Plus, if Kumon Kaito got himself killed, that would be one less person leading Kouta away from where he needed to be. Whatever was afflicting Kouta was not affecting Kaito, and the last thing she needed was for him to figure things out, tell Kouta, and have him haring off and making Mai unhappy.

For the dance, for those she loved, Michi would do anything. And for the first time in her life, she felt like she truly could.


	9. Chapter 9

"I can tell Mai if we need to," Michi said, giving Kouta a wide, plastered-on smile. "We're both girls, she should hear it from me. It'll be easier on her." It was an argument that she'd been having with Kouta for the last few minutes, trying to steer his stubbornness in the right direction. He'd come very close to realizing that she knew more than she was supposed to, and a chill passed through her at the prospect of him figuring everything out. As it was, she wished she knew what the hell Takatora thought he was doing, revealing Helheim to someone outside Yggdrasill like that.

And Kouta, no less! Encouraging Kouta's heroic tendencies was always a bad idea, one she had to keep indulging in because circumstances forced her to. She'd tried to soften him towards what Yggdrasill was doing, and at least he was thinking about it. There was some small hope that Kouta would realize that he should let Yggdrasill handle things and just help out with random Inves attacks. Not a great hope, but he had always been easy to nudge in the right direction. He was smart, even with the driver decreasing his intelligence at times, but he'd always fallen for the "Oh, just let me talk to Mai, we're both girls and girls hear it better from other girls" excuse that she'd done to soften harsh things for Mai, Rica, and Chucky.

In some ways, he was a warmer, slightly less intelligent version of her brother. He had no clue about how to avoid being manipulated, something that was going to get him in trouble someday just as it was going to cause havoc in her big brother's plans. She still liked him better than Takatora; he had a clue on how to treat her like a human being instead of the cog she was born to be.

He still looked like he had doubts, his lips turned in a not-quite-convinced fashion. "Look, Kouta, you and I, we've got to protect their smiles. We've got to go out there and protect this city so that they can be at peace."

That brought a grin back to his face. But of course, heroics always did. She wanted to groan, but instead she stuck a smile back on her face. "You're right."

"I usually am." She really wanted to go back to Yggdrasill and confront her brother about what had happened, but not until Kouta had wandered off in his blissful, innocent daydreams of saving the world.

"Michi...." He wasn't done yet, apparently. "Um, I've been meaning to ask you... I've never met your family."

"You don't want to meet my family." She gave him the same smile she didn't feel, with a touch of sadness in there just to give the right effect. "You know how the Driver gave me a chance to fight my own battles?" 

"Your family's kind of traditional, you told me." He touched her shoulder lightly, as if to comfort her, because that was the way that Kouta worked.

"Actually, they're one of the richer families in Zawame City." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "My parents don't know I'm a Beat Rider, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." There was an advantage to them being overseas. "My older brother found out and isn't very happy about it, but he'll tolerate it for a little while until I 'grow out of it'." It was kind of how Takatora felt about it, after all. "Knowing my brother, you meeting him will convince him to tell my parents what I've been doing, and they'd make leave Team Gaim immediately. I don't want that to happen."

She opened her eyes wider, hoping that she could convince him to stay far, far away, and his downcast expression showed that he believed her totally. "Oh." He probably was imagining her future as some trophy wife instead of a valuable Yggdrasill researcher.

"Yes." She gave him the gentlest smile she could think of. "I know you've been too shy to ask me out, and I know that we could never be together. I'd rather see you happy with Mai." 

"You knew?" It was his turn for wide eyes, but his weren't faked. 

"I am the smartest person on this team, Kouta." She was just glad that he hadn't noticed that she'd dropped out of character for a moment. "And I'm not oblivious."

Not like him, at least.

"Right." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I...."

"Go and hunt Inves, Kouta." She touched his arm gently and briefly, a girl's reassurance to a male friend. "We'll spar later. We'll need the practice, both of us."

He grinned back and hurried off, having no clue in the world, his mind on doing some more meaningless heroics. She shook her head after he left and headed back to Yggdrasill, intend on finding some of her own answers.


	10. Chapter 10

She had to get her teammates to safety. That was all she could think about at the moment; getting them all to the underground tunnels where they'd be safe if Yggdrasill had to destroy the city. At least they'd taken little convincing - they might be a bit upset at her at first, but she knew that they'd forgive her. She was their teammate, wasn't she? A little bit of lying to keep them safe wasn't going to hurt them.

Ever since she'd become part of Yggdrasill, their safety was at the top of her mind. It was too bad that Kouta's Driver made him so desireable to Sengoku Ryouma, at least in the data collection sense. She wished that the Professor would kindly stop needing Kouta's data so damn much so that she could store Kouta's Driver in a safe place. But the world seemed to be out to get her, or at least against her for wanting to save her friends.

She could just hope that Professor Ryouma had the sense to keep his mouth shut around Kouta. He knew of Kouta's tendency to rush in without thinking, and he was certainly bright enough to know that telling Kouta anything about Yggdrasill's secret projects was a recipe for disaster. If she'd had a choice, she would have stayed, but getting the team to safety was far more important than keeping Kouta out of trouble. Kouta could fend for himself in a fight, and maybe he'd get captured and taken back to the cells again. Even if he learned anything while captive, there was little he could do about it. Maybe they'd just confiscate his driver, though she doubted Professor Ryouma would do that. Her brother might, though. He was very concerned about the treatment of the Armored Riders and he was prepared to keep them safe from themselves.

She was just glad that he hadn't decided that she should have her Driver taken from her, because she didn't want to try to explain why she was suddenly without it. And she had to keep up with Kouta at some level or she wouldn't eventually be able to swoop in and rescue him as well.

Michi supposed this was some kind of maternal feeling that made her want to keep the others safe. She did sometimes wonder how it would be like to live as a member of her teammates' social class instead of being groomed to possibly take over a corporation. It was certainly more liberating. 

It also meant that she had the terrible burden of being the only one in the know and the only one capable of protecting them - all of them, even foolish Kouta. 

"Michi?" Rica asked. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

Oh, yes. She was supposed to be leading them to the underground shelter under the ruse of the new open stage. She was just so glad that they trusted her. "That's what I've heard." She didn't elaborate, because that would mean even more intricate lies. Sometimes simpler was better, especially dealing with her team.

"It's just that it doesn't look like it." Rica was peering around. She was starting to be too curious, and Michi had to put a stop to that, right away. Rica couldn't be allowed to guess where she was leading them. None of them could guess. As long as they were kept in ignorance, they'd be happy.

She just hoped that she could keep Kouta happy as well.


	11. Chapter 11

Michi knew that banging her head against the wall would be useless and painful, and yet she understood why it was so inviting to literally do so. The pain would at least distract her from all the stupidity around her, stupidity that she'd have to deal with in some form.

This time, not only had Sengoku Ryouma revealed Project Ark to Kouta - something that should have never been said to an outsider - but her brother had gone and told Kouta about Yuuya, something she was desperately trying to avoid. She could see the shock, the sadness and grief in his expression. It was exactly why she had hidden it from him, because she had never wanted him to be so sad.

The only upside to the whole thing was that Kouta was easier to persuade in this state. So consumed with horror and grief he was not thinking like he should. Kouta might be stubborn, but he could be shaped, and if she handled this correctly, he would never take up arms again. He didn't need to, because she was there. She had influence at Yggdrasill, she knew what was going on, and she had the will to see things through. Kouta might have had the last of those, but not anymore. 

She gave Kouta a smile, even though she wanted to scream that he should understand, he knew the horror and he should keep Mai from feeling the same. He would heal, but he needed to rest. Instead, she gently took his arm and reminded him, frankly, that he was there to keep Mai happy. The truth was a weapon; couldn't he see how it had hurt him, just being swung around like that?

Wouldn't he be happier if he'd never known? 

In some ways, all the revelations had helped. They'd made Kouta understand that what he was dealing with was far larger than he could handle. But she wanted to cry, too, as she wasn't sure he'd be happy again. He'd paid the price for his power, and now he was starting to see it, and it wasn't a happy thing.

She'd leave it to Mai to comfort him, but she was afraid that he'd do what he'd almost just done before she'd interrupted him. Kouta was not a good liar, to say the least, and it was only a matter of time before his feelings overcame what she told him. He hated seeing the others in pain - well, everybody, really, but eventually he'd realize who truly mattered - and he'd rather take the pain upon himself.

And, like when she'd taken on Ryugen the first time, she'd take on that burden for him. He'd done enough. She knew that he still fascinated Sengoku Ryouma, but that was over now. She could talk him into not being so disappointed. She'd take on whatever responsibility she needed to, and she'd even take on Kouta's Genesis Core if that's what she needed to get the man's attention off of him.

Maybe she needed to encourage Kouta towards Mai after some of the trauma wore off. Getting him back to normal was the best thing that she could do for him - it would be painful, yes, but he'd make it.

Kouta would never do well in the world she lived in, she reflected grimly. He wasn't quite like her brother, who trusted people he shouldn't, but he was close. And unlike her brother, who could and would cull six million people to save a million, Kouta could never do that. Kouta still clung to ideals that were nice but unrealistic.

Still, it was her job to save Kouta and the others, so that was exactly what she was going to do. She was a Kureshima, and that meant doing grim things to save a few.

She was up to it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based off of the dialogue from a scene in 24.

"Mai? Is something wrong?" Michi asked, as her teammate bumped her in the middle of making the sign. Mai had been distracted the whole time, almost unable to concentrate. Her bump had brought Michi out of the enjoyment of coloring, causing a momentary flash of irritation, but it was hard to stay upset in any way with Mai for long. Mai was just too kind, too brave, too pure. Her bravery was not in the exasperating way that Kouta's was, but just in the everyday going on in her life as if nothing had happened.

Sometimes that meant that Mai's smile wavered, but Michi did her best to keep that smile going and to decrease the amount of times that it started to fall. There were times that Mai was going to have to be sad, but they didn't have to last long, Michi swore.

Mai folded her hands at her waist, something she did when she was worried about something. She stood there as if frozen, as if unsure as to what to say. It looked actually cute, and if Michi had been attracted to girls she would have asked Mai out. She could protect Mai's happiness better than Kouta was doing anyway. "Michi, you see a lot more of Kouta that I do...."

Michi frowned for a moment. She did see Kouta a lot more than Mai did, which would have been more of a shame if Kouta wasn't a terrible liar and was apt to make Mai unhappy with things she didn't need to know.

"Yes?" She didn't mean to snap. Kureshimas did not snap. Female Kureshimas did not yell. "Sorry, I was concentrating. What's wrong, Mai?" There, that covered her irritation nicely. 

Mai, bless her innocence, just blinked. "He's acting strangely. I was hoping you knew what was going on."

Michi wanted to swear. Even if Kouta wasn't saying anything about what had happened to Yuuya, his body language was screaming that he had a secret that he just wanted to tell. If Mai hadn't loved him so much, Michi would have been more willing to write him off. After all, what had he really done for Team Gaim as of late? Other than worry Mai. 

And on top of it, he'd destroyed Yggdrasill property and given Professor Ryouma fits with his new, unknown Lockseed. Her patience with Kouta was starting to wear thin. But that was something Mai couldn't know, so she gave her friend a smile and shook her head. 

Mai, seemingly satisfied with her answer, kept on going. "I... Kouta has a terrible habit of not asking for help."

"I know." Boy, did she know. Kouta never listened to what she said and could never follow her directions. 

"He just is so willing to help people, but he never thinks about himself!" Mai was oblivious to what Michi was saying, content to vent. Michi let her do just that, because the sooner Mai was done, the sooner she could return to being happy. "I just... it feels like he's doing something that he doesn't want us to know about!"

Michi wanted to hide her face in her hands, but instead let Mai kneel down at the table again. "You worry about Kouta, don't you?" she asked, deliberately injecting a teasing tone. If she knew Mai as well as she thought she did, it would distract Mai from all thoughts of Kouta's weird actions. 

"Not like that!" Mai exclaimed, and Michi swore she saw her friend blush. Michi gave her a broader smile in return.

"I'm just teasing." Once Kouta was powerless, she'd make sure the two of them got together. Kouta might have been in love with Michi, but he and Mai were adorable together and since both of them were going to become survivors, she might as well do some matchmaking when the time came. "But yes, I worry about him too."

There was some relief in Mai's eyes, that someone besides her was concerned about Kouta. Not that Michi was concerned the way that Mai was, but it was close enough. "Thank you, Michi."

Michi shook her head, still smiling for Mai's sake, though she forced it to a gentler expression. "I kept an eye on him even after he left the team because I was worried about him. Even now, I want to make sure he's okay and not over his head." Mostly for Mai's sake now, but still. "But I'll keep him safe for you, Mai, I swear it."

Mai's beautiful, genuine smile made her words all worth it. 

"I'm glad you're there for him. You didn't have to take on that Driver," Mai said, causing Michi to blush a little in return. It was wonderful to have someone recognize what she did for Team Gaim.

"It was nothing. After all, someone needed to be there when Kouta couldn't be." Now that Kouta was not working for the interests of Team Gaim, she was really the only Armored Rider for Team Gaim, wasn't she?

Mai nodded. "Have you ever thought about what you'll be doing in the future?"

"Not really. My family's already made up its mind about what I'm going to do, so...." Since that bit of her story was already somewhat common knowledge in Team Gaim, she let them presume she was going to become a traditional housewife when she was working for Yggdrasill. After all, Takatora would be the one expected to marry, not she. "At least here, I can forget that for a while."

Mai gave her a sympathetic look. "I forgot about that."

"I try not to talk about that. I'd rather think about the fact that I'm the only female Armored Rider." Well, if one didn't count Minato Yoko, but she didn't think Mai knew about the woman yet. "So that I make happy memories before everything changes." 

Things were about to change in ways that Mai couldn't imagine, and the more she could do to make Mai and the others happy, the easier things would be for all of them in the end.


	13. Chapter 13

She knew it now. She finally understood. 

Kouta was completely and utterly incapable of keeping secrets like he was supposed to, and now her team was hurting because of it. More than her team, now, because there were the other team members too, the ones that had joined with Gaim because of their love of dancing. 

He'd swung the truth carelessly and Michi just didn't know how she could bear watching the others get hurt because of it.

To make things worse, they were all defending him for what he'd done to them! Were they all blind? Couldn't they see what he was doing to them? They all deserved to be safe and happy, and she was the one who was trying to make them safe and happy. And she got slapped by Mai for her troubles!

Michi wanted to do something. She had to do something. She couldn't allow things to continue as they were. 

But what?

She had to think. She had to use her brain. She was smarter than everybody else, she just had to use what she had and what she knew.

It was obvious that she had to get rid of Kouta. He'd forsaken the Team. He'd gotten so wrapped up in saving things that he'd forgotten what he was supposed to protect in the first place, where she hadn't. She'd sworn to herself that she would protect Team Gaim when she became Ryugen, and she wouldn't betray that oath. Her brother himself had said that some sacrifices, some staining of hands, was necessary for the greater good.

Kouta's death - Kouta's disappearance - would hurt the team, but not forever. She'd get them through it. 

First, however, she had to find a way to make him go away. Into the Forest seemed best, but she didn't have a clue on how or why. It wouldn't be too hard to lure him in once she had a reason, but she had to think of that reason first. She'd probably need accomplices to create a distraction, as she couldn't win against him in a fight. She was okay in battle, but she wasn't at Kouta's level, especially with all the little powerups he'd acquired as of late.

She should have acquired more power, been stronger for her team, but it was too late now. She had to do what she had with the strength that she had.

Closing her eyes, she knew that she'd have to ask for help from people at Yggdrasill. Or less ask for help than come in with a cunning plan. They wouldn't respect her otherwise, and she had no intention of becoming a target like her brother.

She'd have to give them something they wanted in return for the something she wanted. But what?

They surely needed something. Professor Sengoku was trying to find the Overlords. The Overlords were in the Forest. Maybe if she got Kouta to go into the Forest and search for the Overlords... that might work. She'd have to get him at a moment where he was vulnerable, maybe when he was changing Arms. 

She'd have to find some reason to get both herself and Kouta into the Forest, and then make sure she was somewhere where she could get a good shot at him. But he'd expect her to be by his side, his good, loyal partner.

Even though he wasn't worthy of having her work with him any more, she still had to play the good friend and partner for a little bit longer. He still had to believe in her, even if she didn't believe in him.

And Kouta was as curious about the Overlords as Sengoku Ryouma was. She smiled. If she could convince him to use that new Lock Seed, that new form of his to go find the Overlords as Sengoku Ryouma wanted, then the scientist would be happy to give her whatever help she needed. 

There was only a few more things she needed to figure out, but she'd soon have all the details. Then she could figure out how to manipulate everybody to get the end result she wanted.

In the end, Kouta would be gone, and that was the best for everybody concerned.


	14. Chapter 14

Someday, she'd like to know how Kouta came out of these situations smelling like roses. 

Not literally, of course, but he managed to escape any consequences and came out better than he had before in almost every situation. This time, he had somehow enchanted her brother, and now he was talking nonsense. 

She wished that Kumon Kaito, the idiot, had seen what a danger Kouta was and helped her kill him instead of saving Kouta. And not only that, he was aiming for her now. Her, the only girl of the Sengoku Driver wearers. What had she done to deserve this? Kouta was the one that was in Kaito's way, and the man failed to see that. Instead, he had theatened her, like she'd offended him personally. Kumon Kaito made no sense sometimes.

If only she'd seen this before, when he wasn't so powerful, when she was up to his level. But he still trusted her, and she just had to figure out how to use that. She couldn't risk him figuring out that she wanted him to die, which meant that she still had to act like they were friends a little longer.

And then she'd figure out how to end his life. Somehow. He couldn't be invulnerable forever. He wouldn't be lucky forever.

He couldn't corrupt everybody Michi loved and get away with it, she swore. 

Takatora had been so enthusiastic about Kouta and what he'd found in the meeting that morning. He'd listen to reason back then, a little, but she could see it was a losing battle. She could see that bit by bit, she'd lose him just like she was losing everybody else.

And that was unacceptable. She'd put hard work into her relationships, and she wasn't going to see them fracture just because of Kouta. She wasn't going to lose people to Kouta's magnetism.

Maybe it was time for Takatora to go. She didn't know officially that Professor Ryouma wanted her brother out of the way, but she'd overheard him and the others taking. If Takatora couldn't be saved from Kouta, then she'd let the others go after him. He might have been her brother, but he was being more a fool than anything else at the moment. 

Besides, with Takatora gone, she could do what she wanted. She'd be free of him, wouldn't she? And then she could go and get rid of Kouta, get him out of her life, save the world.

She allowed herself a small smile. Maybe this time things would work out.


End file.
